1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to the field of glare shielding and, more particularly, to an automotive device mountable in a driver's line of sight, for purposes of reducing glare and distortion caused by bright light sources, fog, and rain.
2. Description of the Background Art
Various devices have been developed for automobiles which reduce glare and increase visibility in fog or rain. Many of these devices are mountable upon an automobile sun visor for ready positioning within a driver's line of sight. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,995, issued to Mineck, discloses an attachment for a sun visor having a glare shield molded integrally to a spring clip, wherein upon attaching to a sun visor, the glare shield is held in a stationary position and is incapable of adjustment. A problem arises when a driver tilts the visor forward, or backward, to elevate the lower edge of the visor to accommodate his height, as the body of the glare shield also tilts in the plane of the sun visor, and cannot be adjusted to a more desirable vertical position.
Numerous other glare shield devices, instead of being stationary, have incorporated a rotatable feature, to allow the body of the glare shield to be adjusted in a vertical plane. The normal method of adjustment in these devices is to first rotate the sun visor to a height approximating the driver's line of sight, and subsequently rotate the glare shield to a substantially vertical orientation, for through-viewing. An example of this is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,703 issued to Holladay, which discloses a glare shield coupled to two rotatable members near the top of one of its faces, the rotatable members in turn being coupled to two spring clips oriented in a 90-degree relation to the face of the glare shield. This arrangement allows the glare shield to be rotated through an arc approximating 180 degrees, but because of the odd positioning of the rotatable members on the face of the glare shield, the glare shield cannot be easily adjusted for through-viewing by a driver.
A wider range of useful positionings of the glare shield are achievable if the rotating member is located at the top of, rather than upon the face of, the glare shield. Such a positioning of the rotatable member is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,528,038, issued to Crise; U.S. Pat. No. 3,534,999, issued to Kesselring; U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,287, issued to Franklin et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,519, issued to Aro; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,304,118 issued to Jonas. By positioning the rotatable members at the top of, rather than upon the face of, the glare shield, the glare shield pivots easily into a substantially vertical position useful for through-viewing by a driver. In this arrangement, the glare shield can be moved easily into various positions throughout a 180-degree arc, for accommodating the height and line of sight of different drivers.
The 180-degree arc traveled by the glare shield of these devices is measured at a point of zero degrees, when the glare shield is lying flat against the sun visor, to a point of 180 degrees, where the glare shield typically "bottoms out" by abutting against the sun visor at its top edge, thereby preventing further vertical rotation.
By not being able to rotate further, these prior art devices prevent rotation of the glare shield into a substantial area of space in front of the driver. By being unable to rotate the glare shield into this additional area, the driver is denied a substantial range of adjustment. The only way to take advantage of this additional space with the present devices is to remove them, flip them over, and re-attach the devices to the sun visor in the opposite position. Upon re-attachment, these devices can then be swung vertically throughout the remainder of the 360-degree range of possible motion. However, flipping these devices over and re-attaching them is time consuming and burdensome.
Another problem unsolved in the art has been the propensity for the prior art devices employing a single, open-ended clip fastener of the type shown in Franklin et al., to wobble from side to side, and shake loose, during travel over rough road surfaces. Traditionally, this stability problem has been solved by adding more than one clip fastener as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 2,458,125 issued to Winkler, U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,992 issued to Vu et al., and French Pat. No. 2,310,894 issued to Durelle. However, by adding more than one clip fastener, the process of coupling a glare shield device upon a sun visor becomes more difficult, as the simplicity of a one-clip device is lost. Other methods of solving the stability problem include using brackets and other mechanically complex means of fastening a glare shield device to a sun visor, as is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,192 issued to Schierau, U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,835 issued to Emoto, U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,427 issued to Holter, Italian Pat. No. 575011 issued to Zaccagnini, and French Pat. No. 1,132,147 issued to LaFont.
Additionally, a glare shield device has not been devised which provides glare protection for areas beyond a driver's direct line of sight. The prior art devices are often too short in length to cover areas directly to the left, or right, of a driver's line of sight.
Therefore, a need still exists for a glare shield device for an automobile which allows a driver to adjust the glare shield throughout a greater range of motion than devices which are presently available, which presents a single clip fastener design capable of being stable under all road conditions, and which additionally provides glare protection throughout a wide range of viewing. By allowing a greater range of motion, a greater range of adjustment is likewise achieved, and a greater number of drivers of differing heights can be accommodated.
The foregoing patents reflect the state of the art of which the inventor is aware and are tendered with a view toward discharging inventor's acknowledged duty of candor in disclosing information which may be pertinent to the examination of this application. It is respectfully stipulated, however, that none of these patents teach or render obvious, singly or when considered in combination, inventor's claimed invention.